Exporters approach various courts over restrictions under GST regime

Exporters have approached various courts over restrictions imposed for availing advance authorisation licences under the goods and services tax (GST) regime. The change in condition has led to directorate of revenue intelligence (DRI) issuing notices to exporters. One such case on a petition filed by an exporter came up for hearing in the Delhi High Court, which issued notices to the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) and the Directorate General of Foreign Trade and posted the matter for hearing in January. The gist of the case is that the CBIC had inserted a clause of “pre-import” for exempting imports done on advance authorisation licences from integrated goods and services tax (IGST). These licences are issued to allow duty free import of inputs, which are physically incorporated in export product. The clause meant that imports done after exports would not be allowed to avail exemptions from IGST.

However, advance authorisation is generally used for importing goods after exports are made, as against the pre-import condition imposed by the CBIC, argued Abhishek Rastogi, counsel for the petitioner in Delhi HC and partner at Khaitan & Co. The clause was introduced after exemption was granted to imports under advance authorisation from paying IGST. Earlier, imports under advance authorisation were subjected to IGST. This prompted exporters to move courts. Though IGST is refundable, cash flow of exporters was hampered. Following this, CBIC came out with a notification exempting these imports from IGST. However, it inserted the contentious clause in the notification. Rastogi argued that the petitioner had procured the advance authorisation licences on for post-export imports. “Due to imposition of pre-import condition, the benefits granted to the petitioner has been curtailed to the extent that he would never be able to get the exemptions as he was promised.” This has left the petitioner, who has advance authorisation licences, to the level of those who would import through the normal channel, he argued.

The Business Standard, 10th August 2018

Get link

Facebook

Twitter

Pinterest

Google+

Email

Other Apps

Get link

Facebook

Twitter

Pinterest

Google+

Email

Other Apps

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Shrinking footprints of foreign banks in India Foreign banks are increasingly shrinking their presence in India and are also becoming more conservative than private and public sector counterparts. While many of them have sold some of their businesses in India as part of their global strategy, some are trying to keep their core expertise intact. Others are branching out to newer areas to continue business momentum.For example, HSBC and Barclays Bank in India have got out of the retail business, whereas corporate-focused Standard Chartered Bank is now trying to increase its focus on retail “Building a retail franchise is a huge exercise and takes a long time. You cannot afford to lose it,” said Shashank Joshi, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ’s India head.According to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data, foreign banks’ combined loan book shrunk nearly 10 per cent from Rs 3.78 trillion in fiscal 2015-16 to Rs 3.42 trillion last financial year. The banking industry, which includes foreign banks…

New money laundering norms stump jewellery sector Dealers with turnover of Rs 2 crore and above covered; industry says threshold too low The central government has notified the money laundering rules for the gems and jewellery sector with immediate effect. Now, any entity deals in precious metals, precious stones, or other high-value goods and has a turnover of Rs 2 crore or more in a financial year will be covered under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA, 2002). The limit of Rs 2 crore would be calculated on the basis of the previous year’s turnover, said the notification. The directorate general of goods and service tax intelligence has been appointed under the Act. Sources said the government’s move to apply the PMLA to the jewellery sector was a fallout of income-tax raids on jewellers soon after demonetisation last November, when it was found that they sold gold and jewellery at a huge premium and accepted old currency notes as payment. The notification, issued on Augus…

Confusion over branded food GST
The GST Council's statement over the weekend on applying tax on branded food items has left most of the trade confused.

Even though the Council has not changed the rates on food -0 per cent on unbranded stuff and 5 per cent on brands -many small traders who didn't levy GST earlier said they could come under the 5 per cent slab after the clarification.

While they predicted some increase in consumer prices, large players said they can absorb GST in many ways and keep prices steady.

"Trade is confused and hence on behalf of our chamber, we have asked our members to go ahead and charge 5 per cent GST," said Sushil Sureka, general secretary of the Ahilya Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Indore.

The statement clarifying the application of GST came after some businesses were found deregistering their brands and selling under corporate brand name without paying tax, after the Council exempted unbranded food from the new all-encompassing indirec…